Blog | HemaCare

Stem cell treatments can have a significant impact on human health. These methods can prolong and even save lives.

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that have the capacity of self-renewal and to develop into diverse cell types in different areas of the body. Given these characteristics, stem cells have become promising options to bolster regenerative medicine efforts that may provide therapeutic results that are not possible with current approaches. The utility of stems cells to renew tissues affected by trauma and degenerative conditions can provide breakthroughs in the treatment of numerous diseases, such as cardiovascular, neurological, and other diseases.

Because many people with Lyme disease do not fully recover with antibiotics alone, many are seeking stem cell treatments as an option.

Lyme disease is transmitted by the bite of blacklegged ticks (deer tick, Ixodes scapularis) infected with Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. A number of debilitating and long-lasting symptoms can include the development of a distinctive skin rash (erythema migrans), fever, fatigue, muscle pain, and headaches. Due to the nonspecific and diverse symptoms, Lyme disease is often misdiagnosed and can progress to serious conditions of the heart, nervous, and musculoskeletal systems.

The leading cause of death for U.S. citizens is cardiovascular disease, which affects nearly a third of the U.S. population. There is an active and dedicated search for effective therapies to address this serious medical issue. The use of immunotherapy approaches for a number of diseases and conditions is continuously gaining momentum. Included in this is the use of CD34+ stem cells from a patients’ own blood (autologously derived) to treat cardiovascular disease. CD34+ is derived from bone marrow and other tissue types. However, CD34+ stems cells are more widely known for their hematopoietic origin.

Nearly 7 million people in the U.S. (about 2% of the total U.S. population) suffer some level of stroke-related brain damage and related health problems. Studies in animals suggest that cell-based therapies can improve post-stroke outcomes. To determine the safety of cell-therapy approaches in humans, researchers from Stanford University conducted a clinical trial to study the safety of a procedure to transplant donor stem cells in the brains of patients with chronic stroke.

Canadian doctors observe complete stable remission of the autoimmune disorder myasthenia gravis in all seven patients that underwent autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in their hospital in the past 14 years.

Olympic Games 2004, Athens, Greece. It’s the men’s 400m hurdles finals. American athlete James Carter barrels over the hurdles, going strong, leading the pack. He looks a far cry from his younger 12-year-old self. Back then, he was unable to run, barely able to walk, and his muscles did not follow his mind’s orders. Eventually, he was diagnosed with the autoimmune disorder myasthenia gravis (MG) and had his thymus removed. Mr. Carter knows about hurdles.